Clinical therapeutic effect of arthroscopic Rigidfix system fixation on anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction

Objective To study the clinical therapeutic effect of Rigidfix system technique + interference screw fixation on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with autologous hamstring tendon. Methods Sixty patients with ACL injury admitted to our department from September 2013 to August 2014 were enrolled in this study. All of them had underwent Rigidfix system fixation at the femoral side and interference screw fixation at the tibial side for single bundle ACL reconstruction surgery with autologous hamstring tendon. Clinical therapeutic effects of patients were followed up. Knee motion test, anterior drawer test (ADT), Lachman test, pivot shift test were done and Lysholm score, International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC) 2000 subjective knee score, Tegner score and knee motion KT1000 arthrometry and assessed pain with a verbal numeric pain rating score (0-10) including pain on moving and at rest at different time were recorded. Results The patients were all followed up at two individual time points (3rd month and 10th month after the surgery). Their Lysholm score, IKDC2000 score and Tegner score were significantly higher at 3 months and 10 months after operation than before (60.37±5.35, 74.7±3.51 vs 31.38±5.10; 90.08±4.24, 93.45±2.86 vs 30.85±4.19; 7.30±0.62, 7.80±0.57 vs 1.38±0.56, P< 0.001). Moreover, their KT1000 arthrometry length declined significantly at 3 months and 10 months after operation than before operation (2.95±0.52 mm, 2.92±0.50 mm vs 6.98±0.56 mm, P< 0.001). Postoperative patients achieved lower verbal numeric pain rating score (0.45±0.594, 0.200±0.400 vs 6.1±1.003, P< 0.001). Conclusion Arthroscopic Rigidfix system+ interference screw fixation with autologous hamstring tendon is a reliable procedure for ACL reconstruction with a satisfactory short-term therapeutic effect, a rigid fixation of implants, and a rapid recovery for the postoperative patients.